WEST GOSHEN -- If there is one thing Rich Bruno doesn’t care for, it is excuses. West Chester’s starting punter is a bit more tolerant of others, but he has zero tolerance when it comes to himself.

That’s probably the main reason that the vast majority of his teammates have no idea that Bruno – a member of the team since 2010 and a two-year letterwinner -- suffers from Tourette’s syndrome. He’s been battling the disorder since childhood, but Bruno’s never been all that comfortable about disclosing his condition to anybody but close friends because he doesn’t want any special treatment. He wants to avoid the perception that he is using his affliction as some sort of crutch.

“I just don’t think I need to say, ‘Hi, my name is Rich and I have Tourette’s,’” Bruno explained. “I don’t think that should be the first thing that I share with somebody. It’s actually irrelevant because it doesn’t change who I am, or my personality, or my views of anything. It’s just something I have.”

The way Bruno sees it, nobody would introduce themselves this way: ‘Hi, I am near-sighted.’ Or, ‘Hi, I have flat feet.’

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“It’s not something he shows off,” said WCU head coach Bill Zwaan. “He doesn’t really talk about it. He doesn’t want to use it as an excuse. His close friends on the team know and, of course, the coaching staff knows, but that’s about it.”

Tourette’s is a neurological disorder characterized by repetitive, involuntary movements and vocalizations called tics. Nearly seven years ago, just about the time he was entering Council Rock South High School in Bucks County, Bruno and his parents, Frank and Andrea, decided that he would try to forego the side effects of medication and attempt to control the affliction on his own. He’s never looked back.

“At one point, I asked his Mom if Rich needed to take any medication, or if there was anything else we had to be aware of, and she said, ‘No, we taught him at a younger age to control his Tourette’s,’” Zwaan recalled.

“To teach him to get it under control himself is an amazing thing to do as a parent, and then it was amazing that he has been able to do it -- that he has that type of fortitude that he doesn’t need any medication. I am in awe of everything he has been able to do while he is fighting this affliction.

“I am so impressed with him as an individual. You have these kids come along every once in a while and it just hits you what this kid has accomplished.”

Last fall as a sophomore, Bruno earned the starting job and proceeded to have a promising season for the Golden Rams. His punting average of 36.6 yards ranks in the middle of the pack in the 16-team PSAC, but he’s already turning heads with his accuracy and technique. So far in his college career, Bruno is credited with 39 boots, and he’s been able to pin the opposition inside their own 20-yard line 13 times with just two touchbacks.

“It starts with my parents,” Bruno said. “They always had high goals for me. Even though I had Tourette’s, it was no excuse for me not to achieve my goals. Some people might perceive it as a crutch, but I just see it as an obstacle to overcome. It builds character. Everything I see as an obstacle, I want to beat it, to conqueror it.”

Bruno, however, is the first to admit that it hasn’t always been easy. As a child, he endured the hurtful teasing and mocking that is so common with kids that are different in just about any way.

“Once kids see you have a condition like Tourette’s, they kind of pounce on it,” he said. “It was tough. Kids can be kind of cruel. It was definitely the worst when I was in seventh and eighth grade. If you twitched or made a noise – or was just different – you knew somebody would make fun of you.”

At that time he was taking medication that is commonly prescribed for epilepsy. And even though it helped suppress the tics, it also made him feel drowsy all of the time.

“It was affecting my quality of life,” Bruno said. “I was always tired. My Mom said that I became motionless and I used to be a ball of energy. It was affecting my performance athletically. I couldn’t work out, I didn’t want to kick or punt, or play baseball, or soccer, or any of that.”

It got to a point where the side effects were worse than the disorder itself. At that point – typically at an age when the symptoms are peaking – Bruno got off the medication and started battling Tourette’s with nothing more than his own sheer will.

“It was one of those things where I had to get more comfortable with it, and I started learning ways to deal with it a little better,” he said.

“The notion is that people with Tourette’s blurt our obscenities and freak out with twitching and tics, but that is very few and far between. Some people have it that severely. The severe cases are the ones people remember because they make fun of it in movies and on TV. But most people that have it, it’s more moderate, such as mine. It’s something I can control.”

Bruno eventually became so adept at controlling the affliction, his high school football coach was unaware until he was a senior. Similarly, most of his teachers knew nothing of his condition.

“It really is an art,” Bruno pointed out. “If somebody turns away for a split-second, I can twitch a little bit. I just kind of pick my spots. And as I’ve gotten older, it isn’t as bad as it used to be. It was the worst when I hit puberty, but that’s what I was told by doctors. I just got better controlling it.”

During the recruiting process, Zwaan was made aware of the situation, and admits that he didn’t know quite what to expect, but he loved Bruno’s leg strength as well as his stellar academic achievements. He came to WCU as a punter/kicker, but during Bruno’s redshirt season, Shawn Leo burst on the scene en route to becoming one of the top Division II placekickers in the nation. Heading into his senior year, Leo already owns just about every West Chester kicking record in the books.

“Rich would be kicking for us if we didn’t have Shawn Leo,” Zwaan stated. “We told him early on to concentrate on the punting and he took that as a challenge to become the best punter he can be. He’s always had a strong leg, but now the directional punts are fantastic.”

According to Bruno, he always thought of himself as a better kicker than punter, so the adjustment was a challenge. But now he is content with his role and excited about the strides he’s made.

“I think I am 100 percent better than when I got here,” Bruno said. “When I was in high school, I just went out there and kicked the ball as hard as I could. I have a lot more experience, especially last year with a full season under my belt.

“It’s not all about leg strength. Some of the biggest guys can’t punt a ball more than 20 yards. It’s much more about technique and perfecting the craft, because it is a craft. There are many intangibles that go into it, and then you have to take into consideration the wind, your position on the field, the time left in the game.”

In addition to becoming a valuable figure in WCU’s special team’s play, Bruno acknowledges that extracurricular activities like football have always helped him deal with his Tourette’s.

“Football is like an escape for me,” he said. “When I am on the field, I am not thinking about it, I am just into the game and what’s happening, the situation. Some people have asked me if I twitch when I am kicking, but it never happens. It may happen on the sidelines beforehand or if it’s a pressure situation, but once I am on the field, I am kind of in a zone.”

Pursuing a degree in physical therapy, Bruno currently carries a 3.9 grade point average and recently completed an internship at Optimum Physical Therapy in West Chester. He is expected to take over the duties as Leo’s holder on field goal attempts this fall. And he is quite popular on the squad, which is not always the case with kickers and punters, who practice separately from the rest of the team.

“Rich is unbelievably well liked by his teammates,” Zwaan said. “He is driven to be the best, so he works at every piece of his game. I think that’s why his teammates like him so much. They see how hard he works.”

When Zwaan first asked if he would be willing to go public with his story, Bruno was initially reluctant. But Zwaan asked him to think about it, and stressed that his personal triumphs could be an inspiration to others, particularly kids with similar challenges. He eventually agreed.

“He just doesn’t want people to make a big deal about it because he doesn’t make a big deal about it,” Zwaan explained.

“I just don’t see myself as a role model,” Bruno said. “I see role models as somebody in the armed services or law enforcement, people who put their life on the line.

“I have goals I want to achieve and I work hard to try to achieve them. If somebody wants to think of me that way, that’s OK. I will definitely try to help anybody who has any problems with Tourette’s or anything else.

“But my situation is not that bad. A lot of people have much worse things to get through. Everybody has something going on in their lives – some kind of disease or condition, a mental disorder, or learning disability, whatever.”